wfn.org | All Africa News Agency BULLETIN No. 37/02 (c)

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

AANA Bulletin is an ecumenical initiative to highlight all endeavours and 
experiences of Christians and the people of Africa.  AANA Bulletin is 
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AANA Bulletin	: Acting Editor - Mitch Odero		
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BOOK  REVIEW

A Community Reasserts Their Right To Statehood

T i t l e: The Right To Be Nuba
Publisher: The Red Sea Press, Inc.
Edited By: Suleiman Musa Rahhal
Volume: 136 pp.
Year: 2001

NAIROBI (AANA) September 23 - The Nuba are struggling to preserve their 
culture despite efforts by the government of the Sudan to deter them. The 
book in review tells of many tales of looting rape and murder of prominent 
Nuba figures as well as ordinary Nuba folk.

As the government is increasing pressure on them the Nuba are proving to be 
more resilient than ever to ensure their posterity. The book is thus a 
tribute to the Nuba, their fight against injustice and a testament to the 
courage of a people bent on preserving their culture and heritage.

The Nuba occupy the most fertile land in the Sudan and possess the most 
spectacular of cultures. In contrast, the word "Nubian" refers to the 
people who live between Aswan in Southern Egypt and the Dongola region of 
Northern Sudan.

The two words have been used interchangeably and though not yet proven 
there seems to be a historical connection between the two names. The word 
"Nubian" has been traced as far as the Hellenistic and Roman writers.

Eratosthenes appears to be the first to use the term "Nubian". Harold 
MacMicheal in the book, A History of the Arabs in the Sudan, suggests that 
this term is found in the word "nebed" to refer to the "curly haired one".

The book in review is a concerted effort of numerous authors. The first 
chapter by Ahmed Abdel Rahman Saeed introduces the Nuba. The Nuba are 
encircled by Arabs and Nilotes and have been described as a "vigorous hill 
people of good physique, much independence of mind, strong in tradition and 
fighting qualities".

They are noted for being sincere intelligent and very cheerful. They 
produce millet and other crops and though they keep few cattle it does not 
have any importance to them as it does to the Nilotes. The Nuba are 
inhabitants of over eighty communities of the Nuba mountains of Kordofan 
province.

It is interesting to note that the communities living in the same hill 
range do not share a common language while those who live apart from each 
other share the same language. The Nuba esteem more respect to their 
ancestors than to the deity. This explains why they are reluctant to leave 
their ancestral home.

Although they carry out household duties the Nuba women are allowed to farm 
their own land. This is especially true in areas where Islam is not 
dominant. Girl's wishes are also considered when they are to be married 
although some girls have been married against their wishes.

The Nuba were exposed to the influence of Islam in the sixteenth century. 
To avoid islamisation and slave trading the Nuba retreated to their present 
homeland.

Despite this surge in Islam the Nuba have remained grounded in their ethnic 
identity than in their religious identity. Hence Christianity and Islam 
have had no effect on the Nuba.

Other interesting chapters include the State of Sudan and Unity in 
diversity: Is it possible in Sudan? both questioning whether any sort of 
peace can be achieved between the government of Sudan and the SPLM.

Voices from the Nuba mountains in which victims give their accounts of what 
horrible torture they have gone through and the concluding chapter What 
peace for the Nuba? Also included are appendices and of note is appendix 3 
that provides a list of the Nuba victims of the Sudanese war.

Reviewed by George Mboya

  FEATURES  SECTION

Renewed Campaign To Target  Notorious Poachers

Growing populations in communities around wildlife reservations, the crave 
for big cash for illegal cross-border sales of animal products and weak 
enforcement measures are being cited as reasons for the increase in 
poaching activities in southern Africa. In addition, conservationists in 
the region are faced with another daunting challenge: corruption among 
parks and wildlife officials who collude with poachers and illegal ivory 
harvesters.

By Hobbs Gama

R
ealising the economic potential of animal products and attraction of 
tourists, some countries in southern Africa are up in arms to check illegal 
harvesting of wildlife resources by unscrupulous people.

Stringent penalties for culprits including the deployment of  well-trained 
game rangers and scouts with more powers to deal with poachers and other 
security mechanisms are among the means towards conservation of wildlife.

Still, conservationists in many southern African countries are faced with 
another haunting challenge: corruption among parks and wildlife officials 
who collude with poachers and illegal ivory harvesters.

Chiefs and communities around Nyika National Park which Malawi shares with 
neighbouring Zambia to the north west of its national borders have blamed 
the Department of Parks and Wildlife for the increase in poaching in the 
area by both Malawian and Zambian hunters.

A group village headman says the government erred when it drove people out 
of the area surrounding the park in 1978 when a new boundary was drawn. He 
charges that it was this unfair removal which forces people to sneak into 
the reserves so they can enjoy the resources which they once owned.

"We were living in harmony with the animals before the government came in. 
We had a sense of ownership over the animals but this is not the case now," 
complained village headman Chembe.

The Malawi government through the Department of Parks and Wildlife launched 
Natural Resources Committees nationwide to teach communities conservation 
and thereby harmonise relations between wildlife authorities and 
communities. Since 1996 poaching at Nyika has grown by five percent, 
according to statistics from the department.

The Malawi Environmental Act mets a fine of up to K20,000 ( about Malawi 
Kwacha 76 to the US dollar) to anyone found tampering with game, and can 
suffer a 10 year imprisonment. But the law is doing little to deter 
poaching due to weak enforcement, shortage of game rangers while those in 
the job were not adequately trained.

However, there is a desperate desire among authorities to strengthen 
enforcement and save the rare and endangered species that serve as a 
national heritage and a source of foreign exchange through tourists who 
come to view wildlife.

Recently, Malawi experienced one of its most serious problems of illegal 
animal products harvests. The official Anti-Corruption Bureau ACB says it 
is investigating possible corruption and abuse of office by some public 
officers following the seizure of a container originating from Malawi in 
Singapore containing about 6,200 kilogrammes of ivory valued at K18 
million. The alleged corruption also involves shipping and freight firms 
that facilitated transportation of the container to Singapore bearing false 
details of the contents.

Preliminary findings show that shipping and freight companies in Malawi 
colluded with relevant public institutions to falsify document and declare 
the exported ivory as either sugarcane or timber. Two Malawians have been 
arrested in connection with the crime, while the ACB warns more arrests 
will follow locally and internationally.

The ACB director, Gilton Chiwaula, said investigations by the bureau 
uncovered a syndicate of dealers from a number of countries including 
Malawi, Zambia and Kenya in Africa and Asia who formed a trade ring to 
illegally mobilise and trade in ivory. The practice, according to the 
findings, was facilitated through fraud and corruption.

"Some officials are not doing their job honestly. We shall make more 
arrests ...We request members of the general public to report any offenders 
to their nearest police station," says Chiwaula.

He said the container was intercepted following joint operations of the 
ACB, Malawi Police, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Zambia 
Wildlife Authority, Lusaka Agreement Task Force and the Agri-Food and 
Veterinary Authority of Singapore. Private interests in Hong Kong and Japan 
have been established as the container's final destinations.

In Southern Africa, Swaziland stands as a fitting example of a country 
whose fruits to curb poaching bore fruit. Reports claim that experts from 
around the world are going to the tiny African kingdom to learn wildlife 
conservation and security skills.

Ninety percent of Swaziland's rhino was wiped out with horns hacked off 
from alive animals to meet demand in the Middle East for highly priced 
rhino horn dagger handles and in the Far East for pulverized rhino horn 
which is believed to be a big cash earner.

But the good news is that, presently, rhino poaching has been reduced by up 
to 80 percent in some areas since the enactment of the 1993 Game Act which 
was signed by King Mswati, himself an avoid conservationist. The Game Act 
has even managed to deter poachers armed with AK47 riffles as they were 
equipped with new scouting techniques and given the mandate to wield
firearms.

Such strict measures have seen the country's reserves such as the Big Game 
Parks, Mlilwane Swaziland's oldest game park as well as Hlane Royal Game 
Reserve flourishing beyond recognition. The rarest species are well 
fortified in richly tendered sanctuaries.

While, previously poachers and illegal hunters depleted the rhino, the 
country was also used as a conduit for rhino, elephant tusk and other 
ivories illegally exported to South Africa. Some ivory came from Mozambique 
passing through the kingdom to the outside world.

This time the authorities are however not relaxing considering that in the 
recent times there was cropping up cases of illegal ivory traders. Parks 
rangers feel they have to take the lead in protecting the kingdom's 
wildlife because of fears that poaching which was drastically reduced since 
1993 might resume. But there is widespread optimism that poachers would not 
be able to go far.

Swaziland's police spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent Vusi Masuku, 
recently pressed for the strong deterrent legislation which empowered 
rangers to apprehend or arrest suspects. They can also pursue culprits 
outside the boundaries of the protected areas.

"Stiff penalties are putting off poachers. Imagine a fifteen year jail term 
without an option for a fine. A convicted poacher also has to pay for 
replacement of the killed animal ...and it can be costly," says Masuku.

  UK Finally Accepts To Compensate Mine Victims

A total of 228 Kenyans, all victims or relatives of victims of the 
ordinances left behind by the British military in the sprawling Archers 
Post and Dol Dol areas, last month met with lawyers to discuss how 
multi-million pounds sterling compensation would be distributed amongst 
them. British authorities, responding to an out of court settlement, have 
agreed to honour the deal.

By Andrew Kuria

T
he British Ministry of Defence had in July agreed to compensate the 
victims. This came about  following an out of court settlement reached 
between the victims' lawyers and the Ministry. The amount involved is 4.5 
million British Pounds	(equivalent to Kenya Shs535 million).

The beneficiaries are Kenyans drawn from Samburu, Laikipia and Isiolo in 
Kenya's northern frontier  and some of then had earlier - through an NGO, 
Osiligi - travelled to London to pursue their case against the British 
military.

  Some of them who met with their lawyers in late August have lost their 
hands, others their legs while others have been rendered blind. All were 
victims of the ordinances believed to have been abandoned in their area by 
the soldiers after military exercises. Most of the victims and their 
families are poor pastoralists.

It is believed that the Archers Post area, which covers some 1,500  square 
kilometres, still has some uncovered ordinances thus posing danger to the 
area's residents. Already unexploded rockets and cartridges have been 
retrieved from grazing fields in the affected areas. The munitions are said 
to have Ministry of Defence markings.

A lawyer from  Leigh, Day and company advocates, through whom the suit was 
filed by the Kenyans, feels that  although the British military men have 
continued with	further extensive clean up operations and operations to rid 
the Archers and Dol Dol areas of the ordinances, there were fears that 
other unsuspecting residents could be injured by the still unexploded 
munitions.

"This could lead to more similar suits being filed by the would-be victims 
against the British government," the lawyer said.

He noted that although the area in question includes 1,500 square 
kilometres it is only 200 to 300 square kilometres of the area which has 
been cleared of the presence of the ordinances. He said the concerns by his 
firm were over children playing in the affected areas and also pastoralists 
out looking after their livestock. Further explosions could open the 
floodgate to litigation.

Following the filing of the suit by members of the community, the British 
Army applied five months ago to have the case removed from a London court 
for hearing. The defendants requested for a private mediation away from a 
public court.

According to John ole Keshini, the chairman of the NGO,Osiligi, 
representing the victims of the ordinances, 236 Kenyans had sued the 
British military claiming to have sustained injuries  or lost relatives 
from unexpected munitions left behind by the military.

"We had been claiming KShs1.3 billion (about KShs 78 to the US 
dollar	or  about KShs 120 to the Sterling) as minimum. We hoped the out of 
court settlement could adequately compensate our people in the light of the 
fact that this is something serious," the chairman said.

"We were realistic that this was not politics but a situation where people 
died, injured, maimed and gone through psychological torture. This was 
something very small we were asking for".

A project officer of  the Osiligi, Mr James Legeye, said the NGO helped 
look after the welfare of the Maasai and Samburu. He recalled that this was 
the first legal proceeding of the kind for the NGO to be involved in. He 
said going to court for legal action had not been an easy decision for 
those involved.

"Some members of our community have been fearing to come forward to report 
these cases. For some, it is against their culture to report about the dead 
members of their families," the projects officer said.

  He added that following the filing of the suit two year  ago a doctor was 
involved in examining and assessing the extent of the injuries of the 
victims of the ordinances. The doctor had then given a full report citing 
the extent of the amount of money claimed as compensation.

In the compensation claims made in court earlier it was alleged that over a 
period of fifty years the British Defence Ministry was negligent, failing 
to ensure that unexploded ordinance were removed from firing ranges in Kenya.

There is a feeling from some sections of the Kenyan society that the 
munitions case, a landmark in its own right, could open a floodgate for 
similar suits to be filed against the British Defence ministry.

This, according to some observers, could be so if victims of the 
independent wars in Africa  filed cases against the colonial governments 
whose armies might have left ordinances in different parts of the countries 
after the independent struggles.

But, as a Kenyan lawyer observed,the situations are different and range 
from country to country and thus not every claimant could succeed to press 
for compensation by former colonisers.

"I don't believe the foreign governments will in all the cases that might 
be filed just accept that they	bore responsibility for acts of negligence, 
if any or proved in court,  for injuries caused by munitions left behind by 
its troops as has been in this Osiligi case. As  we say each case is judged 
on its own merit," the lawyer said.

The lawyer said it might be difficult to prove such a case if the claimants 
were found not to have heeded to cautions about not to interfere with 
ordinances they might have collected at the firing ranges where military 
exercises had been carried.

There are fresh concerns about the claimants, all predominantly rural 
folks. For example, would they spend their awards in progressive pursuits 
aimed at improving their welfare ? Most of them are herders and 
pastoralists who may find such amounts of compensation staggering.

"It is clearly a big issue. The big question is how they will use the money 
as they are not used to this kind of money. Most of them hardly handle 
monetary transaction on a daily basis," said lawyer Martyn Day.

He said the legal firm hopes the claimants will benefit from the cash 
compensations paid commensurate to each victim's level of injuries 
sustained.  "(We hope) we will not meet with some of the claimants along 
the streets drunk and using drugs and we hope the claimants will use the 
money in the proper manner and for good purposes".

The military exercises in the Northern	Kenya area have been going on for 
many years. Some victims of the ordinance finds were maimed as far back as 
1965. One such victim of the find is Kipise Meituturo who lost an arm in
1965.

  Some of the victims are believed to have innocently picked the ordinances 
and without reading the cautions on them kept them. This has resulted in 
children losing their lives to the ordinances which they unknowingly used 
as play things.